I have two questions for the Minister. First, Article 19 of the treaty says that we are under an obligation to take a “portion”—an odd word—of Rwanda’s “most vulnerable refugees”. A two-way flow of people is envisaged, some going from here to Rwanda, some going from Rwanda to here. Can the Minister give us a forecast ballpark figure of how many Rwandans are coming? Secondly, he will remember that last year the State Department found the Government of Rwanda guilty of arbitrary murder, torture, cruel and inhuman and degrading punishments, arbitrary detention in harsh and life-threatening prison conditions, carrying out murders and kidnappings abroad and harassing domestic and international human rights groups. Our Bill requires us to deem Rwanda a safe country. Will he tell us why the State Department is wrong?
UK-Rwanda Partnership
Proceeding contribution from
Lord Kerr of Kinlochard
(Crossbench)
in the House of Lords on Thursday, 7 December 2023.
It occurred during Ministerial statement on UK-Rwanda Partnership.
About this proceeding contribution
Reference
834 c1619 Session
2023-24Chamber / Committee
House of Lords chamberSubjects
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Timestamp
2023-12-10 08:28:56 +0000
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